The vestry of the Chapel of the Cross is pleased to announce the call of the Rev. Canon Elizabeth Marie Melchionna as rector. Her first Sunday will be August 7, when she will preach and celebrate at all three services.

Both the recommendation of the search committee and the vote of the vestry were unanimous. The Rev. Melchionna (pronounced mel-SHO-na) is a native of Roanoke, Virginia. She holds degrees from Davidson College and Yale Divinity School. She is currently Canon for Discipleship and Parish Life at St. John’s Cathedral in Denver, Colorado. She was the associate rector and Davidson College Episcopal campus minister at St. Alban’s in Davidson from August 2009 through June 2013. She speaks several languages, has traveled extensively, authored numerous publications, and is in demand for her preaching and presentation skills. Click here for the complete resume.

“Elizabeth Marie is an extraordinary person and priest with a keen intellect, strong liturgical and musical experience and education, and a calming spiritual presence,” said search committee chair Dick Taylor. “We are thrilled that she will be leading the parish.”

The Rev. Melchionna is married to North Carolinian Will Roberts. They have a son, Liam, a rising sixth grader who loves singing in the choir. And most exciting for the parish, Elizabeth Marie is expecting a baby in mid-September! She will be with us for about six weeks prior to taking maternity leave and will return during Advent. During those first weeks, she will make arrangements for supply liturgical and teaching coverage during her maternity leave, which is subsidized by the Church Pension Group disability plan for clergy.

Elizabeth Marie had long been interested in the Chapel of the Cross. During the search process, she felt drawn to the “energy and possibility and excitement” that were an indication to her of how God might be moving at the Chapel of the Cross at this moment in time. “I knew this was the place for me when I didn’t want the interview to end!” she said.

“That the parish was open to calling a female rector who also happened to be pregnant, communicated something,” Elizabeth Marie said. “Their willingness to go in that direction while remaining authentic to their roots showed that they were asking themselves what new ministry might be emerging for the parish and how to express it.”

The call came after a 10-month search process, which included numerous meetings of the search committee, review of 27 applicants from 20 states, and intensive video and face-to-face interviews of 13 candidates. Members of the committee also visited Denver to observe Elizabeth Marie in her current position.

Dick Taylor thanked the entire parish and its leadership for their contributions to the successful search for a new rector. “The parish-wide process of defining who we are and what we want resulted in thousands of individual expressions of what was important to us,” he said. “Those thoughts were transformed by the profile writing committee, search committee and vestry into a parish profile that set forth our vision of the Chapel of the Cross going forward – focused on worship, outreach and a supportive community. An outstanding pool of candidates responded to that vision and the search committee reviewed applications, interviewed candidates, and finally the vestry has called the next rector of the Chapel of the Cross – Elizabeth Marie Melchionna.”

Senior warden and search committee member Melody Savage also noted the importance of the parish’s input into the process. “Elizabeth Marie’s calm centeredness, her intellect, and her warmth impressed everyone during her interview. Although other candidates were very impressive in many regards, we agreed unanimously that Elizabeth Marie’s skills and personality are those that will support our parish in living into the vision for The Chapel of the Cross that we articulated in that profile.”

The process was gratifying to all involved. “It was truly a spiritual discernment and we unanimously agreed that she was ‘the one’,” said search committee member Leigh Ann Dasher.

Vestry member Syd Alexander said he is quite excited. “Elizabeth Marie is academically gifted, experienced in a university setting, and passionate about her ministry,” he said.

“Elizabeth Marie has all the strengths I hoped to find in our new rector,” said search committee member Joe Ferrell, “leadership experience, pastoral sensitivity, communication skills (including preaching), and familiarity with the ethos of a university community.”

Plans are being laid for welcoming gatherings during August for attendees at all three Sunday services. There will be an installation ceremony for the new rector shortly after her arrival. We will hold a full-out celebration of new ministry upon her return from maternity leave.

The vestry wishes to extend special gratitude to associate priests Tammy Lee and Vicky Jamieson-Drake, archdeacon Bill Joyner, and interim rector Robert Davenport for their steadfast pastoral care and liturgical leadership during the transition period. Robert’s last Sunday at Chapel of the Cross is July 31, when we will hold a farewell event following the 10 am service.

The profile is also available on various sites across the country, including the national church site and the Transition Ministries Conference. It will be posted now through May 1.

The listing features the parish profile, a link to our website, the search status, and a link to Catherine Massey, Canon of Transition and Pastoral Ministries at the Diocese, who is the contact person for our search.

Right now we are “receiving names.” If you have names of persons you think would be interested in our search, encourage them to go to this link, where they can express interest in the position, find out more about us, and apply to be our next Rector.

Ten members of the congregation have offered themselves to stand for vestry election. Advisory ballots will be mailed to each eligible voter in the parish by Friday of next week. Information on each candidate is below. This information will also be included with each ballot, posted on the home page, and available on Cross Roads blog. Ballots must be returned to the church by 5 pm February 19. The parish meeting to elect the new vestry, either by acclamation or final balloting, will take place Sunday, February 21, between services in the Great Hall.

You are eligible to vote and to stand for election if you are an enrolled, confirmed, adult (16 years or older) member in good standing of the Chapel of the Cross, also denoted as BCCA16+.

If you are looking at your membership status in COTC Connect, BCCA16+ stands for a baptized, confirmed, communicant, 16 or older. Parishioner means someone who is active in the parish and has a strong affiliation, but is not a baptized, confirmed member. Call us if you are interested learning how to become BCCA. It can be as simple as transferring your letter of membership from your old church, or taking the adult inquirers classes this spring and being received by the Bishop on April 17.

Gail Cloud

Served one term on Vestry (class of 2009), member and chair of finance committee

Current parish activities

Community Outreach Committee member and past chair (prepare blurbs for Sunday bulletins, coordinate Alternative Giving with Global and ABC sale subcommittee to determine recipients ) Altar Guild team captain since 80s, Altar Guild Chair four years

ABC sale volunteer

Usher

Past parish activities

Served as Sunday school teacher while my children were young

Work outside the parish

CPA; currently work as a bookkeeper for CHCCS in Pre-K/Head Start office

Areas of special interest

Finance, stewardship, and outreach

Patty Courtright

Cradle Episcopalian, COTC member since the mid-1970s

Current parish activities

Member of the Parish Profile Writing Committee for the current Rector search

Newcomers Committee: greeter for the past 9 years; head of the Shepherds Program since 2010 (after serving as a shepherd for 4 years)

Past parish activities

Church school teacher (4th and 5th grades) for two years

ABC Sale volunteer for many years, past co-chair of White Elephants

Work outside the parish

Worked in communications for 30 years (15 years in higher education). Retired in 2015 from UNC as director of internal communications and editor of the University Gazette. Currently freelance writing/editing at UNC.

Boardmember, University Woman’s Club; sustainer with the Chapel Hill Service League; volunteer with the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools CoachWrite program, North Carolinians Against Gun Violence and Everytown for Gun Safety.

Areas of special interest

Christian formation and fellowship and engagement

Leigh Ann Dasher

Member of the Chapel of the Cross since 2009.

Current parish activities

Children’s Chapel Leader

Rector Search Committee

Past parish activities

Assisted in pledge drive in 2014

Centering Prayer Class during Lent 2014

Work outside the parish

President of the board at the Preschool at the Chapel of the Cross, member since since 2013

Trained as a lawyer; volunteer for Pro Bono legal service through Legal Aid of North Carolina

Parishioners frequently ask me — “What is going on in the Rector search?” — underscoring how much we all care about this process and need to communicate with one another about it.

The search committee intends to communicate regularly with the vestry and the congregation, at least monthly, or more often as we have news to report.

It may not seem like much is happening, but rest assured that progress is being made. The first and most significant step was the October congregation-wide conversation about who we are, what we value, and what we hope for in the future. Hundreds of parishioners contributed thousands of individual sticky-notes or survey responses with their thoughts and hopes for this process.

In early November, the vestry, search committee and profile writing committee met together to review your input in light of the format for the parish profile which is, in effect, our job announcement. It was a wonderful, if somewhat chaotic, exercise in which we reached shared understandings about the importance of worship and music, outreach and social ministry, and Christian community to the people of the Chapel of the Cross.

It was clear that we are proud of our church and love it deeply, while at the same time share a sense that we want to be more – A Light on the Hill.

It then became the task of Doug Kelly and the members of the profile writing committee to faithfully capture that information and insight, and draft a parish profile for consideration by the search committee and the vestry. They skillfully completed their task on time in mid-December. Thanks go to Patty Courtright, Andrew Joyner, Doug Kelly, Ted Vaden, Eliza Wolff, and Robert Wright for their excellent work.

The search committee met this week to work with the parish profile and review a likely timetable for the process going forward. We will be meeting regularly, at least monthly, going forward. Search committee members are Virginia Carson, Leigh Ann Dasher, David Dodson, Joe Ferrell, Sarah Hybels, James Moeser, Melody Savage, Dick Taylor, and Kevin Trapani.

We intend to submit the parish profile to the vestry for a first reading at its January meeting, and for adoption at the February meeting.

On March 1, we will “go live!” Our profile will be posted on the websites of the parish, the national church, the Diocese, and several Episcopal consortia for sharing job announcements and applications for clergy positions. This is the window in which positions are often posted and where interested candidates respond to those announcements. The months of March and April will be somewhat quiet for us, as aspirants for our position send their information to the Diocese, background checks occur, and the Diocese gathers applicants for our consideration.

On or around May 1, we will receive our applications. We are told that ours will be a very attractive position, and we should expect a pool of highly-qualified applicants. In May and June, the search committee will screen the applicants, conduct on-line interviews, interview a smaller number in person, and finally select a candidate for presentation to the vestry. The vestry will then interview the candidate and decide whether to issue a call.

If all goes well we will call a Rector in late summer to begin work in the fall.

Ellen Cole will be expanding her role as kitchen manager to include the duties of parish life coordinator.

Long a priority of the vestry, the parish life coordinator position was a strong recommendation of the strategic ministry and mission plan adopted in 2013. Broadly put, the parish life coordinator focuses on fellowship and engagement for parishioners, newcomers, and community groups. She manages and motivates volunteers, develops fellowship opportunities, and coordinates special events. She is a resource for newcomers who want to get involved and acts as a matchmaker between parishioners and volunteer opportunities.

Ellen brings the experience of a long volunteer career — in her hometown of Asheville, at Appalachian State, in Winston-Salem, and in Chapel Hill — to her work with us. She thinks that this time of transition is also a time of great opportunity.

“We can rejoice in a remarkable past,” she said, “but we are also asking ‘What if?’ I want to be the liaison between ‘What if?’ and ‘Wow, that was wonderful.'”

Some of the “what ifs” on Ellen’s list: a family movie night, an Epiphany celebration with a bonfire and banjo, homemade cookies ready all the time, volunteer parishioner teams cooking for ECM and other groups, and a parish retreat weekend. She will be showcasing current COTC projects and introducing you to the parishioners who run them. If you have an idea for an activity or event, she can help you find others interested in joining you.

Ellen will also be monitoring the talents and interests section of COTC Connect, which now lists all the activities in Finding Your Place. Many of you registered with COTC Connect in order to make your 2016 pledge, but you can also update your contact information, upload a family photo, and check off your interests while in this section of our website.

Ellen’s work in the kitchen will continue, where she trains new kitchen users, orders supplies and equipment, and manages kitchen volunteers. Her monthly Kitchen Notes column brings everyone inside the busy world of the COTC kitchen.

Ellen acknowledges that the desired result of the strategic plan in creating her role was to facilitate more engagement in current activities and to plan events that appeal to our large, diverse congregation. She has another goal in mind as well: “The best part of my new role is that I get to meet many of you, and I hope, help each of you have the most meaningful experience possible at the Chapel of the Cross together with others in our parish family!”

The vestry approved the parish life coordinator position as part of the 2016 budget. The vestry will adopt the full budget at its meeting this month. The revenue line for that budget comes from your pledges. Sunday is in-gathering Sunday — please make a pledge online through COTC Connect, fill out the pledge card you received in the mail, or pick up a pledge card in your pew on Sunday and put it in the offering plate. Join your fellow parishioners for celebratory cake in the Great Hall following the 9 am service and pick up your Together button at the front desk!

Engage, renew, transform.Together. It all begins with COTC Connect and the online community.

To make a pledge, start by going to our website and clicking on COTC Connect. If you haven’t registered yet, start by “finding yourself” in our database. Then set up your login and password. There are complete instructions on the website, plus immediate access to people on the staff who can help you. You need to be able to access your email to receive the login information.

So much of this time of year revolves around tradition. We eagerly anticipate spending comforting and familiar time with our friends and families as the holidays draw near. The Chapel of the Cross family is no exception!

On December 13, we will we gather together between the 9:00 and 11:15 Advent Lessons and Carols services for a festive reception. This is our largest reception of the year. Nancy McGuffin and I will be in the kitchen and we welcome more hands to help! I have set up a sign up genius to make it easy for all:

Please follow this link and sign up to bring a sweet or a savory to share and/or volunteer to help in the kitchen. We always have a grand time in the kitchen!

Another tradition we will enjoy again this year, is on Christmas Eve. After the 5:00 pm pageant, stop by the Great Hall for light refreshments and a visit with fellow parishioners. My family hosts this reception and we welcome donations of goodies to share. Please drop items off before the 5:00 pm service.

Lest we get too comfortable in established tradition, we have scheduled a new event for this year. ‘Breaking up Christmas’is a mountain celebration to honor Old Christmas or Epiphany. Historically, it is celebrated by large house parties, large bonfires fueled by the Christmas greens (and maybe a little moonshine), multiple bands and the shooting of guns at midnight. While we won’t go that far, we do invite everyone to a potluck supper, a ‘bonfire’on the patio and music in the Great Hall on Wednesday, January 6. We will gather around 5:00 pm and finish up in time for the Junior Choir to be ready to sing at the Solemn Eucharist at 7:00 pm, or in time for little ones to get home to bed! This is going to be a casual, festive party. Please bring a dish to share. As always, friends are welcome!

Mark your calendars now so you don’t miss any of our traditions, old and new, as we celebrate this joyful season, together.

To register you need to “find yourself” in the database and set up your login and password. Start here or if you are on the homepage of the website, click where it says “Join COTC Connect.” There are complete instructions on the website, plus immediate access to people on the staff who can help you. You need to be able to access your email to receive the login information.

If you update or change your contact info, it’s not immediate-we will usually approve your changes as soon as we see them, but if it’s over a weekend, for example, it could take a couple of days.

If you can’t find yourself, be sure you’ve added any suffix-like Jr. or III. If you still can’t find yourself, please call or email us at the number or link provided. We will help you!

If you are a newcomer, we may need to formally enter you into the database and determine your membership status. Call us!

Once you are registered, please make a pledge! If you are making a 2016 pledge, be sure to enter 2016 dates. COTC Connect will guide you.

You may also make a contribution or pay on your pledge to other funds: Light on Hill (development fund), Chapel Restoration (capital fund), or make a donation in memory of someone (memorial fund). If you want to donate flowers for the altar, please use the link on our website.

Questions about your membership status? BCCA16+ means a baptized, confirmed, communicant, 16 or older-you can run for vestry and vote in vestry elections. Parishioner means someone who is active in the parish and has a strong affiliation, but is not a baptized, confirmed member. Call us if you are interested learning how to become BCCA. It can be as simple as transferring your letter of membership from your old church, or taking the adult inquirers classes this spring and being received by Bishop Anne when she visits in April.

The information that appears in the online directory is the same as in the old hard copy directory: name, address, preferred phone, and email. No sensitive information is visible to anyone else. You may opt out of the directory and no one will be able to see anything about you.

To download the ChurchLife app, search for Churchlife on your phone’s app store. Once it’s downloaded, you can use the app to donate (but not make a pledge) and search the directory and parish calendar.

Finally, if you “report a problem” please know that you are writing directly to members of your COTC administrative staff. We are people, interested in making this work, not the cable company!

COTC Connectis the Chapel of the Cross online community that will enable you to:

Make pledges and donations and set up recurring payments on your credit card or through your checking account

Check your membership status

View your contribution record

Find outreach and serving opportunities and register for trips and events

Access the online directory and upload a photo

Download the ChurchLife App to donate and search the directory and parish calendar on your smart phone

Starting November 15, volunteers will be available at the front desk to help you download the app, upload a photo to the directory, and otherwise organize your information. We will even take a photo of you and your family if you need one.

Engage, renew, transform.Together. It all begins with COTC Connect and the online community.